VW Golf GTE Sport: the outrageous carbon-bodied 400bhp hybrid GTI

The wild VW Golf GTE SportSide profile, at the 'Nurburgring' (virtually)A Worthersee treat: the GTE SportCarbon bodywork bespoke for concept GolfCabin inside VW Golf GTE SportNot your average Golf GTI cabinThe hybrid plug-in tech underneath Golf GTE Sport

► First pictures of VW Golf GTE Sport
► A madcap 395bhp Worthersee concept
► Carbon body, plug-in hybrid tech

It's all go for the Volkswagen Golf at this year's Worthersee tuning festival: Wolfsburg is preparing a trio of hot hatches to wow the go-faster brigade - including this wild Golf GTE Sport.

It's a concept car, as you might judge from the bespoke carbonfibre bodywork shrouding the 400 horsepower innards.

That's a metric 400 ponies, equivalent to 395 imperial horses in bhp, achieved through some plug-in hybrid mechanicals.

VW Golf GTE Sport: a very radical kind of Golf GTI

Around 200,000 visitors to Worthersee this weekend will ogle the new GTE Sport, a radical futuristic vision for hot hatches of the future; it'll sit alongside the production-bound GTI Clubsport, a 261bhp special due for the Golf GTI's 40th in 2016, and the mainly cosmetic apprentice special Golf.

The GTE Sport has what VW calls an 'electric propshaft,' as the hybrid system powers the rear axle. Performance is predictably rapid: 0-62mph takes 4.3sec and top speed is claimed at 174mph.

Yet this vision for future performance hatchbacks also has a green edge; it can run 30 miles on silent e-power. Enough for a few laps of the Nurburgring in stealth mode then. Though presumably not at full pelt...

Mercedes-Benz SL550

Of all the Mercedes-Benz models that could be accused of being born with a silver spoon in its mouth, the SL arguably tops the list. Unlike many grand-touring cars, the Mercedes SL has never been forced to compromise its blue-blood personal-luxury/sport ideals with feigned attempts at practicality to please executives or attract buyers. It has, more or less, remained an unapologetic take-it-or-leave-it proposition since it debuted nearly six decades ago, and the 2013 SL550 does nothing to alter its course. Cool, Quiet Confidence Every move the 2013 SL550 makes is steeped in a competent, laid-back confidence; pin the throttle, and the car takes a moment to gather itself, as if saying to the driver, “Okay, dude, you ready? This is gonna be pretty awesome.” And with that, the seven-speed automatic downshifts, the twin turbos gorge themselves on air, and the whole shebang takes off, pulling hard to an observed 159-mph top speed (Mercedes claims an electronically limited 155). Life in th...

McLaren 650S Sprint

McLaren’s new 650S model now comes in three flavors, the standard road going 650S, the competition-spec 650S GT3 for serious racers, and now there’s the 650S Sprint which is aimed at track enthusiasts who still want a little bit of comfort. The 650S Sprint also replaces the MP4-12C-based 12C Sprint as McLaren’s track toy for the super-rich. Compared to the road model, the 650S Sprint features increased downforce and better cooling airflow to the 3.8 litre twin-turbocharged V8. It also features a competition-spec fuel tank and quick-fill cap, a larger radiator borrowed from the GT3 car, a new hood with additional cooling ducts for the radiator, front wing louvres for improved airflow, reduced ride height and recalibrated damping and spring rates, 19-inch center-locking race wheels with either Pirelli slicks or wet tires, onboard air jack system, and an upgraded braking system. On the inside the McLaren 650S Sprint features a stripped-out design with a FIA-approved rol...

Lamborghini Canto – What the Murcielago could have been?

Back in the late 1990s, when Lamborghini were starting to realise they needed a replacement for the ageing Diablo, they started reviewing design proposals from various automotive design firms. Zagato’s offering was the Zagato L147 SuperDiablo, or as it was to be later known, the Lamborghini Canto. The Lamborghini Canto first appeared in 1998, it arrived only two years after another Zagato designed Lamborghini concept had been unveiled, the Diablo-based Raptor. The cars shared a number of similar features, including the wraparound windows, triangular lateral air intakes, and trademark double-bubble roof. However of the two, the earlier Raptor was probably the better looking. Clearly Ferdinand Piech – head of the Volkswagen Group – thought so too. After VW bought Lamborghini in 1999, one of his first decisions was to review the Canto’s development and redesign the concept. The car was re-engineered and the rear extensively restyled to include smaller air intakes....

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